This episode is part two of Climate Change and Happiness’s series focusing on childbearing decisions in a time of climate disruption. Science journalist and Gen Dread creator Britt Wray joins Thomas and Panu. Britt describes her “long and winding road” through climate emotions, inspired by her own journey toward having a child. She and Panu reminisce about their earlier conversations about grief and survivorship when Britt was beginning her research. Britt notes her personal shift from “asking is it okay to have a child, to what's required to have a child today? How do we support children in this world?” Thomas noted how Britt’s public exploration of her parenting decisions through her Gen Dread newsletter has filled a void for prospective parents as therapists and mental health continue to become schooled in addressing climate concerns.

Climate Change and Happiness Episode 8 begins a two-part series focusing on childbearing decisions in this time of increasing climate disruption. Panu and Thomas are joined by feminist scholar Jade Sasser whose research investigates the impacts of climate change, racial injustice, and other existential threats on human reproductive decisions. Together they explore how climate change is interpreted by potential parents and grandparents of different generations and cultures. They discover how, in Jade’s words, children “symbolize and represent so many hopes, dreams, fears, anxieties, desires to make the world better.”

When we face a challenge like global climate change, none of us is “enough.” Thomas and Panu center this episode’s conversation around naming feelings of inadequacy [in Finnish riittämättömyyden tunne: the feeling of not being enough or doing enough]. They share ways to work through this common feeling, balancing acceptance, action and rest. Panu differentiates various shades of anxiety in relation to feeling inadequate in the face of the climate crisis, including anxiety of responsibility, anxiety of freedom and anxiety of guilt. When we work toward sustainability, it’s not just an ideal or a policy. We also have to make it personal with concrete actions.

In a conversation recorded during the recent COP 26 meeting, Susan Clayton, a colleague and noted social and conservation psychology researcher, joined Thomas and Panu. Together they discussed the important role that our environmental identity plays in helping us understand our values and desires about nature and addressing environmental issues.

In this episode, Thomas and Panu talk about connections and meaning-making—looking at climate feelings through the lens of synergy. They are constantly surprised at the positive energy they discover as they meet and collaborate with others around the world—such as during Panu’s work on the recent Lancet global youth study—and the validation they gain from learning about those who made similar discoveries in the past. In order to navigate this time in history with its dark ecology of overlapping crises, from climate to COVID to armed conflict, we need to open toward shared energy, efforts, and resources that sustain us.

Thomas and Panu welcome Quebecois psychologist Karine St. Jean as their first guest on the podcast. Karine practices mindfulness and uses Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) in her climate-focused work with clients in Montreal, Canada. In a wide ranging discussion, the three discuss the value of sitting with challenging feelings and maintaining flexibility in terms of sustainability action. Karine emphasizes the value in “meaningful faith” and finding “collective meaning”  in honoring the positive and negative emotions that come up around issues of the environment.

How do we navigate eco-anxiety as an idea and as a feeling? Is it one thing or many things? Thomas and Panu talk about eco-anxiety or “ympäristöahdistus” in Finnish as a primal emotion, as a feeling we can describe in various languages, as a cultural idea, and as a psychiatric diagnosis. Thomas and Panu give a history of the concept of eco- or environmental anxiety in psychology research and in pop culture.

Safe spaces are crucial for the expression of climate feelings. Thomas and Panu talk about the loneliness people feel about climate experiences. What does it take to “hold space” for climate feelings, to “stand one’s ground” and “contain” experiences of sadness, grief or rage; and to practice “climate cosmopolitanism”? Panu looks back to pioneering work by Chellis Glendinning and shares Tim Jensen’s more recent concept of “ecologies of guilt.” Thomas reminds us of the role of values and that “We hurt where we care” echoing the writing of psychologist Steven Hayes, and classic insights about the “pains of an ecological education” going back to Aldo Leopold.

Welcome to the Climate Change and Happiness podcast. You’ll meet hosts Dr. Thomas Doherty and Panu Pihkala. Panu talks about his books and workshops on climate feelings, drawing on his background in eco-theology. Thomas speaks from the front lines of research into the mental health impacts of climate change, and shares insights about coping from his counseling practice.